Rescue crews prepare a site near Pabrade, Lithuania, for specialized equipment as part of dredging work. Four U.S. soldiers remain missing after their M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle went off course into a bog on March 25, 2025. (X/Lithuanian armed forces)
STUTTGART, Germany — More dredging gear was headed on Friday to the site where four U.S. soldiers remain missing in Lithuania, as personnel from multiple countries join an effort complicated by mud and flooding.
Lithuania’s defense ministry said Friday that rescuers had worked overnight to try to excavate an armored vehicle submerged 15 feet deep in a bog, but that water continues to pour into the location.
“A specialized dredging machine was deployed yesterday evening, and today Lithuania’s most powerful dredger will arrive,” the defense ministry said.
Hundreds of people are helping, including personnel form Poland, U.S. Army troops and Lithuanian authorities who have been at work on site since Wednesday.
A specialized U.S. Navy dive crew also is expected to arrive within the next 24 hours, U.S. Army Europe and Africa said Friday.
“This is gut-wrenching for the entire 3rd Infantry Division,” Maj. Gen. Christopher Norrie said in a statement Thursday. “Our hearts are with the families of our missing Soldiers and all of Raider Brigade during this difficult time, both forward and here at home.”
Norrie noted that his division has an extensive history of operating in Europe, which it regards as a “second home” given the many deployments to Poland, Lithuania and other parts of NATO’s eastern flank by the unit, which is based at Fort Stewart, Ga.
All four missing soldiers are from the division’s 1st Armored Brigade.
They were riding in an M88 Hercules armored recovery vehicle on a training mission when they went off course into the bog early Tuesday morning. It happened on a base near the city of Pabrade, which has been a training hub for U.S. forces for many years.
The submerged M88 was discovered Wednesday during a search-and-rescue effort by American troops and Lithuanian authorities.
On Thursday, Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said his country had assembled a special task force of soldiers and equipment to provide support.
The Army has not declared the soldiers dead, with officials saying they are still considered missing.
Engineers at the site are working to create berms to establish a contained area from which water can be pumped and mud dredged, providing emergency personnel on site access to the vehicle, the Army said.
